From Reuters

East African states worried by a surge in heroin smuggling via their Indian Ocean ports want to boost intelligence sharing and possibly try suspected traffickers in local courts, an official at the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (ODC) said on Monday.

East Africa has become a key export route for Afghan heroin destined for Europe but regional maritime forces, short of funds and anti-trafficking expertise, have struggled to stem the flow of narcotics through their territorial waters.

Saeeda Verrall, a U.N. ODC official based in Mauritius, said regional states have asked the U.N. to help them improve maritime intelligence sharing and to create a legal framework to try suspected traffickers arrested in international waters.

“There is a recognition that this is a huge problem and that it requires a rethinking of how information is shared and a willingness to co-ordinate around the region,” Verrall said.

So far the best defence against drugs trafficking for the likes of Kenya and Tanzania has been the Combined Maritime Force (CMF), a 30-nation naval force which has in east Africa mainly focused on protecting busy shipping lanes from Somali pirates.

As piracy has waned in the last two years, CMF has shifted attention in east Africa to combating smuggling of illicit drugs and weapons.

Read more at Reuters